Wall-panel structure



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Dec. 27, 1955 Filed oct. 9, 1951 Dec. 27, 1955 A. A. BROWN WALL-PANEL STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR AUBE/WA, KOM/A/ d TTOR/VEY Filed Ot. 9, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 A. A. BROWN WALL-PANEL STRUCTURE Dec. 27, 1955 Filed Oct. 9, 1951 IN VEN TOR.

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United States Patent O WALL-PANEL STRUCTURE Albert A. Brown, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to H. H. Robertson Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Penn- Sylvania Application October 9, 1951, Serial No. 250,464

4 Claims. (Cl. 189-34) This invention relates to a wall-panel structure and particularly to an insulated wall-panel structure for use in the construction of a building.

The object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved insulated metal wall panel characterized by its relatively light weight and rigidity and which may be economically manufactured and quickly and easily erected to form partitions as Well as the exterior walls of a building.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved prefabricated insulated metal wall-panel structure of the character specified having novel fastening means for securing together the panel elements in a manner such as to enable the exterior surfaces of the structure to be free of visible fastening means.

With these general objects in view and such others as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the insulated wall-panel structure hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specitication.

ln the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. l is an elevation of a portion of a wall embodying the present insulated panel units; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a transverse scetion taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional detail taken on the line 4 4 of Fig l; Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a fastening clip; Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional plan view of a modified form of wall-panel structure embodying the present invention; Figs. 7 and 8 are transverse sectional views similar to Fig. 3 illustrating other modified forms of the invention; Fig. 9 is a crossasectional detail view taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8; and Fig. 10 is a perspective detail view of the structure shown in Fig. 9.

ln general, the present invention contemplates a novel insulated wall-panel structure particularly adapted for use in the construction of the exterior closure walls of a building and which comprises an insulated metal panel embodying two spaced sheet-metal outer components or facing sheets comprising vapor barriers between which a layer of incornbustible insulating material is inserted. The present wall structure is particularly designed for field assembly, and in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the inner-facing sheet may be flat, the outer sheet being liuted or corrugated to form the face of the building structure. In practice, the inner sheet may be attached to the horizontal girts or girders forming a part of the structural steel framework of the building, and the inner sheet may be provided with fastening clips arranged to cooperate with portions of the outer sheet so that the outer sheet may be attached in assembled relation with the inner sheet during the erection of the building without exposure of fasteners upon the exterior surface of the structure. The fastening clips may and preferably will comprise metal Clips having a low thermal conductive covering bonded thereto to reduce to a minimum thermal conduction between the two facing sheets. In the assembled wall structure the facing sheets are spaced apart ing the erection of the wall, the inner-facing sheet l2V being arranged to receive and retain a semirigid noncombustible insulating board 19 of substantial thickness.

In practice, the individual facing sheets 12, 16 are preferably prefabricated in the shop ready for erection with other units in the field, each facing sheet being provided with interlocking side edges comprising male and female lips 29, 22 at opposed longitudinal edges for joining adjacent panels side by side during the erection of the wall. The panels may be made in suitable standard lengths for forming the outer walls of a building, and when the height of a wall section to be formed exceeds the maximum standard length of a single panel, the ends thereof may be dieset, as indicated at 24, to provide offset portions arranged for telescopic engagement in a manner such as to provide smooth exterior end lap joints.

The interior-facing sheet 12 may comprise a metallic coated steel sheet having a vertical and substantially centrally disposed stifening member 26 of structural steel, preferably Z shaped in section, which may also be provided With a metallic coating and Welded in the shop to the inner face of the sheet 12.

In the erection of a Wall, the interior-facing sheets 12 may be secured to the building in any usual or preferred,

manner, such as by spot welding the sheets to the steel girders 14 or by screw-fastening means, and when the building is provided with wood girders the sheet may be fastened thereto with lag screws. Each sheet 12 is preff erably of a length such as to fit across the supporting girders, and preferably each sheet should span across three girders for maximum rigidity and support.

A series of interior-facing sheets or panels 12 may be secured side by side with the tongues 20 of one panel in interlocking engagement with the grooves 22 of an adjacent panel, the grooves 22 being preferably provided with a caulking compound before the erection of the panels, and the upper and lower ends of adjacent facing sheets 12 may be telescopically interlocked, as illustrated at 24. The interlocking tongues and grooves 20, 22 of the sheets 12 may also be pinched together by means of a suitable tool.

After the interior-facing sheets 12 have been erected, as above described, a plurality of substantially continuous horizontally disposed and vertically spaced steel bars 28 may be tack welded onto the back face of the .sheet across the crown 25 of the groove or lip members 22 and across the flange of the Z bar, as shown in Fig. 3, to tie the sheets together and t0 form a support for the fastening clips i8. The horizontally extended tie bars 28 may be spaced vertically a predetermined distance for cooperation with correspondingly spaced bars 31 carried by the outer-facing sheet 16 to be described, and at those points where a telescoping joint 24 occurs in the outer-facing sheet 16, the inner-facing sheet may be provided with an additional non-clip-carrying tie bar 30 for added strength and to serve as a ller or spacer between the inner and outerfacing sheets at such points to assure alignment of the telescoping portions of the joint.

The preformed and semirigid non-combustible insulating boards 19 may then be inserted into the back of the facing sheets 12, the insulating boards preferably being of a Width such as to t between the vertical Z bars and the` tongue and groove joints 20, 22, as shown, and of a length such that the ends of the boards may be tucked behind the tie bars 28 with the upper and lower ends of adjacent boards in contiguous Arelation in back of the bars.

The fastening clips 18 may then be hooked over the tie bars 28 in spaced relation, as shown, for cooperation with the outer-facing sheets, and as herein shown, each fastening clip map comprise a strip of sheet metal bent into an S shape having opposed hook portions, one hook portion 32 being arranged to tit over the tie bars 2S and the other hook portion 34 being arranged to receive the corresponding bars 31 of the outer sheet 16. The sheetmetal fastening clips may and preferably will be provided with a low thermal conductive covering bonded thereto to reduce thermal conduction between the two facing sheets. The hook portion 34 may be provided with a bent-out portion 36 to facilitate insertion of the bars 31 of the outer sheet during the erection of the outer-panel sections 16, and the hook portion 36 may also be provided with a prestressed portion indicated at 38 in order to maintain a iirm grip on the bars 31 inserted therebetween.

The outer corrugated metal facing sheet 16 may and preferably will comprise an aluminum sheet and is provided with a plurality of horizontally extended sheetalurninum connecting bars 31 which may be welded across the tops of the corrugations on the inner face of the sheet 16, the bars 31 being spaced vertically a distance corresponding to the vertical spacing of the tie bars 2S. Each horizontally extended bar 31 may be of a length substantially equal to the width of a single panel section, and the welding operation may and preferably will be performed in the shop so that the outer-panel sections 16 may be complete and ready to assemble with the interiorfacing sheets upon erection of the latter, as above described.

Assembly of the corrugated outer-facing sheets 16 with the inner sheets may be accomplished by merely sliding individual outer sections to insert the connecting bars 31 into the fastening clips 18 and then adjusting the panel section into position. In practice, the vertical joints 20, 22 of the outer-facing sheets may and preferably will be arranged in staggered relation to the corresponding joints of the interior-facing sheets 12, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The exterior-panel sections 16 may or may not be provided with a caulking compound at the joint sections, as desired.

The modified form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 6 may be similar in all respects to the above-described embodiment except that the outer corrugated sheet 42 may be provided with relatively wide corrugations having relatively large open areas or air spaces 44, instead of the relatively closely spaced corrugations shown in Fig. 3, the exterior-panel sections being arranged to be hung on the fastening clips 18 carried by the interior-panel sections, as above described.

Referring now to another modified form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 7, when it is desired to provide a wall having fiat surfaces on both sides thereof without visible fastening means on either side, the exterior-panel section may comprise a composite sheet having an inner corrugated member 46 and an outer flat member 48 welded thereto as shown, the flat member 4S being provided witli the male and female lips 20, 22 for joining adjacent panel sections side by side. The interior-facing sheet 49 may be similar to the interior-panel section 12 shown in Fig. 3, and may be provided with the continuous transversely extended and vertically spaced tie bars 28 for supporting the fastening clips 18. The exterior-panel section may be provided with the tie bars 31 welded to the inner corrugations of the corrugated sheet 46 and the panel sections may be connected during the erection of the wall by inserting the bars 31 into the clips 18 in a manner similar to that above described.

Referring now to Fig. 8, a still further modified form cated from sheet aluminum, and having male and female /f lips 20, 22 for interlocking engagement with adjacent/ panels, and instead of having a vertically disposed centrali stitfening bar as in the previously described embodi\ ments, the flat sheet Si) may be provided with a plurality of transversely extended and vertically spaced struc tural steel bars S2 of Z shape in cross section. The Z bars 52 being made of steel so as to preclude direct welding of the bars to the aluminum sheet 50 may be secured to the sheet by aluminum welding buttons 54 having a head portion 56 arranged to engage a liange 57 of the Z bar S2, and having a welding portion S3 extended through a preformed opening in the flange and into flush engagement with the adjacent surface of the aluminum facing sheet 59, as shown in Fig. 9. The parts thus positioned may be spot welded in the usual manner, thus providing an interior wall-panel section free of visible fastening means. A plurality of semirigid non-combustible insulating boards 60 may be placed in the areas defined by the transverse Z bars 52 and the width of the sheet.

The exterior-panel section, shown in Fig. 8, may comprise a composite sheet including a corrugated inner sheet 62 and a ilat outer sheet 6d having marginal male and female lips 20, 22. The exterior-panel section is preferably fabricated from aluminum, the fiat sheet 64 being spot welded to the corrugated sheet 62 as shown. ln order to secure the interior and exterior-panel sections together without fastening elements visible from the exterior of the panel, the exterior-panel section is provided with a plurality of elongated transversely extended and vertically spaced clip bars 65 which may extend across the width of an individual panel section and be welded to the inner corrugations of the corrugated sheet 62. As herein illustrated, the clip bars 65 are provided with offset portions 67 forming an elongated slot or pocket into which the flanges 70 of the Z bars 52 may be inserted during the assembly of the panel sections.

In practice, the interior and exterior-panel sections may be completely assembled in the shop ready for erection in the field and may be supplied with the interior and exterior-panel sections already clipped together as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, or if more convenient, the interior-panel sections 50 may be iirst attached to the building side by side, as previously described, then provided with the insulating boards 60, and then the exterior sections may be be hung on the clip bars 65 by inserting the anges 'Titi of the Z bars into the elongated clips and adjusting the panel section in position.

From the above description it will be observed that the present construction of a field-assembled or factory-assembled panel wall structure provides a relatively rigid insulted wall which is light in weight, may be economically manufactured and which may be quickly and easily erected and which is free of visible exterior fastening means. The fact that the front section of the present panel wall structure may be readily removed, permits the same to be economically repaired or replaced in the event of damage to the front section.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed 1. A lightweight elongated panel unit particularly useful for erection with other similar panel units upon the structural framework of a building to form the exterior walls thereof, said panel unit consisting of an inner panel section having a at metal facing sheet forming one surface of the panel and an outer panel section having a corrugated metal facing sheet forming the second surface of the panel, said facing sheets being of substantially equal width and length and having male and female lips on the side edges thereof capable of interlocking engagement with similar portions of adjacent panels, the flat sheet of each panel unit being provided with a vertically extended stilening bar disposed intermediate said marginal side portions of the sheet, said stffening bar having inner and outer parallel flange portions and a connecting web portion, one ange portion engaging and being secured to the flat sheet to form a unit therewith and with the web portion extending toward the corrugated sheet of the second section of the panel unit, a plurality of said at metal facing sheets being adapted to be secured side by side to the framework of the building, a plurality of elongated horizontally extended and vertically spaced tie bars welded to and across the marginal portions of and across the second ange portions of the vertical stiening bars of said at sheet panel section, insulating means carred by said at sheet panel section between the marginal lips of said at sheet and the intermediate stitfening bar, a plurality of similarly disposed and spaced tie bars welded to and across the inner corrugations of the corrugated sheet of the outer panel section and a plurality of open-ended double fastening clips hung on the tie bars of the at sheet section and upon which the tie bars of the outer panel section are hung to detachably support the latter upon the first section.

2. A wall panel structure as defined in claim 1 whereF in the tie bars of the rst applied sections of a plurality of adjacent panel units extend across and are welded to the stiiening bars of a plurality of units.

3. A wall panel structure as dei-ined in claim 1 wherein the tie bars of the first applied sections of the panel unit are welded to the stiffening bar and to a lip of the at facing sheet. t

4. A wall panel structure as defined in claim 1 wherein the tie bars of the first applied panel sections extend across and are welded to corresponding lip portions of adjacent panel sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,747,969 Carrey Feb. 18, 1930 2,009,880 Eiber July 30, 1935 2,228,650 Young et al. Jan. 14, 1941 2,266,599 Hasenburger et al Dec. 16, 1941 2,284,229 Palmer May 26, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,515 Great Britain of 1895 

